THE GAME: The University of Alabama football team goes on the road in Southeastern Conference play for the first this season with a trip to the commonwealth of Kentucky for a clash with the Wildcats, on Saturday, Sept. 26, at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington. It is the first true road game of the season after three straight home games and a neutral-site tilt with Virginia Tech in the Georgia Dome. The game is scheduled to kick off at 11:21 a.m. on the SEC Network with Dave Neal, Andre Ware and Cara Capuano calling the action. Eli Gold and Phil Savage and Barry Krauss will have the radio call on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

HEAD COACH Nick Saban: Alabama head coach Nick Saban (Kent State, 1973) is in his third season with the Crimson Tide. He was named the school’s 27th head coach on January 3, 2007. Saban has compiled a 114-50-1 (.694) record as a collegiate head coach with a 23-8 (.742) mark at Alabama that includes 4-0 record this year. He captured his 100th career win and coached his 150th game as a collegiate head coach during the 2008 campaign. In 2003, Saban led LSU to a 13-1 record and the BCS National Championship. Overall, Saban has coached three conference championship teams (1990 Mid-American, 2001 SEC and 2003 SEC) and nine of his 12 teams have played in post-season bowl games with Tide appearing in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Saban is one of two (Bob Stoops) current Football Bowl Subdivision coaches to coach for at least 10 years and not suffer a losing season.

RANKINGS: Alabama was ranked fifth in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ preseason polls. It was the highest preseason ranking for the Tide since the 2000 season when they opened at No. 3. Since the preseason poll the Tide has moved up to No. 3 after an Oklahoma loss on the opening weekend and a week three loss for Southern California. The Crimson Tide remained No. 3 in both polls this week. UA also garnered four first-place votes in the AP poll.

THE ALABAMA-KENTUCKY SERIES: Alabama leads the series with Kentucky, 34-2-1. The two teams first met on Nov. 17, 1917, with Thomas Kelley’s Crimson Tide squad posting a 27-0 win in Lexington. Alabama has met Kentucky the fewest times of any of its SEC football foes, meeting only 37 times in history. UA and UK met every year from 1922-47, with the exception of 1943 when the Tide did not field a team due to World War II. Since then, the Tide and Cats have met just 11 times. Alabama holds a 14-2 series lead in games played in the state of Kentucky. Alabama is 13-2 in games played in Lexington and also posted win over the Wildcats in Louisville in 1945. Alabama and Kentucky are meeting in Lexington for the first time since the Tide’s 45-17 win on Oct. 4, 2004. UK has not beaten the Tide since Tim Couch led the Cats to a 40-34 overtime win in 1997. Alabama’s winning percentage over Kentucky (.932) is the second-highest against any Tide opponent with at least 20 games played. Alabama and Kentucky have met at five different sites, including Birmingham, Lexington, Louisville, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide is 20-0-1 all-time against the Wildcats in the state of Alabama, including a 9-0 record in Tuscaloosa following last year’s 17-14 win on Oct. 4, 2008 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

UA PLAYERS FROM KENTUCKY: Junior defensive end Brandon Deaderick (Elizabethtown, Ky.) is the only Kentucky native on the UA football roster.

SABAN VERSUS KENTUCKY: Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 4-0 in his career against Kentucky and owns a 2-0 mark against the Wildcats in Lexington, including a 29-25 win in the “Bluegrass Miracle” on Nov. 9, 2002. Marcus Randall heaved a desperation pass and Devery Henderson hauled in it for a 76-yard score to give Saban’s Tigers the improbable win.

STATISTICAL DOMINANCE: Alabama’s dominance on the field in the first four games of the 2009 season has translated in the national statistical rankings. The Crimson Tide is among the top 15 in 11 different team statistics and in the top 10 in seven different categories. Alabama ranks second nationally in rushing defense (47.25 ypg), second in total defense (202.5 ypg), fifth in offensive pass efficiency (169.03), eighth in total offense (490.5 ypg), ninth in scoring offense (40.5 ppg), 10th in rushing offense (234.25 ypg) and 10th in tackles for loss (8.00 pg). UA also leads the Southeastern Conference in rushing defense, total defense, punt returns (11th nationally at 18.81 ypg) and tackles for loss. UA ranks third in the SEC each offensive category, including rushing offense, passing offense, total offense and scoring offense. Alabama ranks in the top 25 in 13-of-17 NCAA category rankings.

NEXT GAME: Alabama continues a two-game road swing through the SEC with a trip to No. 21 Mississippi on Saturday, Oct. 10. The Crimson Tide visit the Rebel’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium with a 45-9-2 edge in the all-time series. The kickoff time and television network has not been determined. The Tide has won five straight over the Rebels, including a 24-20 in Tuscaloosa last season. The Tide’s last trip to Oxford resulted in a tight 27-24 win. The last four games in the series - all Alabama wins - have been decided by four points or less. UA is 5-3 all-time in Oxford and 12-8-1 in Mississippi, including games in Jackson, Columbus and Greenville.